Crispy around the edges, tender in the center, and absolutely loaded with cabbage, okonomiyaki is one of Japan’s great comfort foods. This savory pancake is cooked until beautifully golden, brushed with a sweet-savory sauce, and finished with creamy Japanese mayonnaise, aonori, and wispy bonito flakes.
The name hints at one of the best things about okonomiyaki: it is wonderfully customizable. Pork belly is a classic choice, but shrimp, mushrooms, green onions, and other additions can easily make their way into the pan.
This recipe follows the Osaka-style approach, where shredded cabbage and other ingredients are mixed into the batter before cooking. Serve the pancakes hot from the skillet while the outside is crisp and the toppings are fresh.
🥬 Okonomiyaki Recipe
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: About 40 minutes
Servings: 2 large pancakes or 4 smaller servings
🛒 Ingredients
For the Okonomiyaki
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup dashi
- 2 large eggs
- 4 cups finely chopped or thinly shredded green cabbage
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup tenkasu, or tempura scraps, optional
- 2 tablespoons chopped pickled red ginger, optional
- 6 to 8 thin slices pork belly, optional
- Neutral cooking oil
For the Toppings
- Okonomiyaki sauce
- Japanese mayonnaise
- Aonori, or dried green seaweed flakes
- Katsuobushi, or dried bonito flakes
- Sliced green onions, optional
- Pickled red ginger, optional
🍲 Make the Okonomiyaki Batter
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Pour in the dashi and add the eggs. Whisk just until the batter is combined. It should be thicker than an ordinary breakfast pancake batter but still loose enough to coat the cabbage.
Avoid aggressively beating the mixture. A lightly mixed batter helps keep the finished okonomiyaki tender.
If you have time, let the batter rest for about 10 to 15 minutes while you prepare the cabbage and other ingredients.
🥬 Add Plenty of Cabbage
Add the shredded cabbage, green onions, tenkasu, and pickled ginger to the batter.
Use a large spoon or spatula to fold everything together until the cabbage is lightly coated.
At first it may look like there is far too much cabbage for the amount of batter. That is exactly what you want. Okonomiyaki should be packed with cabbage rather than resembling a flour-heavy American pancake.
Mix only until everything is combined.
🥓 Add Pork Belly
If you are making pork okonomiyaki, keep the thin slices of pork belly separate rather than stirring them into the batter.
The pork will be placed directly on the pancake while the first side cooks. After flipping, it sits against the hot pan and becomes browned and flavorful.
If your pork slices are especially long, cut them into pieces that will fit comfortably over the pancake.
🔥 Cook the First Side
Heat about 1 tablespoon of neutral oil in a large nonstick or well-seasoned skillet over medium heat.
Spoon half of the cabbage mixture into the pan and gently form it into a circle about 7 to 8 inches across.
Do not press the pancake down firmly. Keeping the mixture somewhat loose helps the interior cook up lighter and more tender.
Arrange half of the pork belly over the top, if using.
Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until the bottom is golden brown and firm enough to flip.
🥞 How to Flip Okonomiyaki
Flipping a thick cabbage pancake can seem intimidating, but two wide spatulas make the job much easier.
Slide one spatula beneath each side of the pancake and quickly turn it over so the pork side is facing downward.
If the shape becomes slightly uneven during flipping, simply nudge the edges back into place.
Cover the skillet and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes. Covering the pan briefly helps the cabbage soften and allows the center to cook through without burning the exterior.
Remove the lid and cook for another minute or two if necessary, until both sides are golden and the pancake is cooked through.
Transfer to a serving plate and repeat with the remaining batter.
🍶 Add Okonomiyaki Sauce
Brush or drizzle a generous layer of okonomiyaki sauce over the hot pancake.
Okonomiyaki sauce is thick, glossy, sweet, tangy, and savory. Bottled versions are available at many Asian markets and increasingly at well-stocked supermarkets.
If you cannot find it, you can make a quick approximation at home.
🥣 Easy Homemade Okonomiyaki Sauce
Stir together:
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Taste and adjust the sweetness or tanginess as desired.
This simple version works well when you do not have bottled okonomiyaki sauce in the pantry.
✨ Add the Classic Toppings
Once the sauce is spread over the pancake, drizzle Japanese mayonnaise over the surface in thin lines.
Sprinkle with aonori and finish with a generous handful of katsuobushi.
The extremely thin bonito flakes may appear to wave or “dance” when they hit the hot pancake. It is simply the heat and rising steam moving the lightweight flakes, but it makes for a particularly fun presentation.
Add extra sliced green onions or pickled ginger if you like.
Serve immediately.
🥢 What Is Okonomiyaki?
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake made with batter and cabbage along with ingredients chosen according to preference.
The Osaka-style version mixes the cabbage and other ingredients into the batter before cooking. Thin slices of pork belly are a particularly popular addition.
After cooking, the pancake is typically covered with okonomiyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise and finished with toppings such as aonori and katsuobushi.
It is hearty enough to serve as a main dish rather than a breakfast-style pancake.
🇯🇵 Osaka-Style vs. Hiroshima-Style Okonomiyaki
Two of the best-known approaches to okonomiyaki come from Osaka and Hiroshima.
Osaka-style okonomiyaki combines the cabbage and batter before the pancake goes onto the griddle. It is the style used in this recipe.
Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is assembled in layers rather than mixing everything together. Cabbage is piled over a thin layer of batter, and noodles are commonly included as part of the dish.
Both are distinctly okonomiyaki, but their preparation and finished textures are noticeably different.
🌿 What Is Dashi?
Dashi is a foundational Japanese stock that contributes savory depth without making the batter heavy.
Traditional versions may be prepared with kombu and bonito flakes, but convenient dashi packets and instant dashi granules make it very easy to prepare at home.
For vegetarian okonomiyaki, use a kombu- or mushroom-based vegetarian dashi.
You can substitute water in a pinch, although the finished pancake will have less savory depth.
🥔 Do You Need Nagaimo?
Traditional Osaka-style recipes often include grated nagaimo or yamaimo, a Japanese mountain yam that helps create a wonderfully light and fluffy texture.
It is delicious if you can find it at a Japanese or Asian grocery store, but it is not essential for making good okonomiyaki at home.
This recipe uses baking powder to give the batter some additional lift, making it much easier to prepare with ingredients available at an ordinary supermarket.
If you become an okonomiyaki enthusiast, grated nagaimo is well worth trying in a future batch.
🍤 Other Okonomiyaki Filling Ideas
One of the pleasures of okonomiyaki is how easily it can change depending on what you like or have available.
Instead of pork belly, try:
- Chopped shrimp
- Squid
- Cooked chicken
- Mushrooms
- Corn
- Extra green onions
- Thinly sliced vegetables
Seafood combinations are especially good with the cabbage and savory sauce.
Avoid adding too many wet ingredients, however, because excess moisture can make the pancake difficult to cook through.
🥬 Vegetarian Okonomiyaki
It is easy to make a meat-free version.
Skip the pork belly and use vegetarian dashi. Mushrooms, green onions, corn, and additional cabbage all make excellent fillings.
Keep in mind that traditional katsuobushi is made from fish, so leave it off for a fully vegetarian version.
You can finish the pancake with okonomiyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, aonori, sesame seeds, green onions, or pickled ginger instead.
Also check the ingredients in bottled sauces if you follow a strict vegetarian diet, as recipes vary by brand.
🥚 Don’t Overload the Batter
Okonomiyaki invites experimentation, but there is a limit to how much one pancake can hold.
Too many heavy additions can prevent the batter from binding the cabbage together and make the pancake difficult to flip.
For your first batch, keep things relatively simple. Once you know what the basic cabbage mixture should look and feel like, it becomes much easier to experiment with additional fillings.
🔥 The Best Heat for Okonomiyaki
Medium heat works better than very high heat.
The pancake is relatively thick, which means the center needs time to cook before the exterior becomes too dark.
If your pan is excessively hot, the outside may burn while the cabbage in the center is still too firm.
If the pancake is browning too quickly, lower the heat and give it a little more time.
A lid is useful after flipping because it traps some steam and helps the cabbage cook through.
🥞 Don’t Flatten the Pancake
It can be tempting to press down on the okonomiyaki with a spatula while it cooks.
Resist the urge.
Pressing compresses the cabbage and batter and can produce a denser pancake. Shape it gently when it first goes into the skillet, then allow it to cook without repeatedly flattening it.
A thick, tender center surrounded by browned edges is part of what makes good okonomiyaki so satisfying.
🥢 What to Serve with Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki can easily stand on its own as a casual lunch or dinner.
If you want to turn it into a larger Japanese-inspired meal, serve it with miso soup, a cucumber salad, edamame, or simple pickled vegetables.
Steamed rice is optional because the pancake itself is already quite filling.
For a shared meal, make several smaller pancakes and bring them to the table as soon as they come off the skillet.
❄️ How to Store Leftover Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki is best hot and freshly cooked, but leftovers can still be quite good.
Allow leftover pancakes to cool, then transfer them to an airtight container and refrigerate them for up to 3 to 4 days.
For the best texture, store the pancakes without the mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and other toppings whenever possible.
Reheat the pancakes in a skillet over medium-low heat until hot throughout. An oven or toaster oven also works well and helps restore some crispness to the outside.
Add fresh sauce and toppings after reheating.
🧊 Can You Freeze Okonomiyaki?
Yes.
Let cooked pancakes cool completely, leave off the toppings, and wrap each pancake individually. Place them in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to about 2 months.
Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in a skillet or oven.
Making several pancakes at once and freezing the extras is an easy way to turn okonomiyaki into a convenient future meal.
❤️ A Japanese Comfort Food Worth Making at Home
Okonomiyaki looks impressive once it is covered with glossy sauce, zigzags of mayonnaise, green aonori, and fluttering bonito flakes, but the actual cooking is surprisingly approachable.
At its heart, it is a generous pile of cabbage held together with just enough savory batter to turn it into a crisp-edged pancake.
Master the basic version first, then make it your own with pork belly, shrimp, mushrooms, extra green onions, or whatever sounds good.
That flexibility is part of the fun—and part of what makes okonomiyaki such a satisfying recipe to return to again and again.
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